Wordless Wednesday ~ Off to War

This is a snapshot of my father-in-law with his sisters, Margaret and Belle, likely just before he headed to Army training for World War II in April 1943. One older brother, Alfred, enlisted in May 1941, and another older brother, Louis, enlisted in November 1942. I shared snapshots of them on Memorial Day.

Memorial Day ~ Remember the Handler brothers

Two of my husband's uncles died serving their country during World War II. Until recently, I had only seen their official military portraits, which I posted when I wrote about their service, and one formal family portrait.

With my recent acquisition of a shopping bag full of old Handler family photographs, I am able to see snapshots of my husband's uncles, showing them in their daily life before going off to war.

Alfred was born on August 10, 1919, in Akron, Ohio, during the time that his father, Joseph, was becoming a naturalized citizen. His name and birthdate are noted on Joseph's naturalization papers. He married Rebecca <unknown> at some time during the war. I'm still trying to find details about his marriage and his wife.

Louis was born on July 3, 1921, in Akron, Ohio. I found his birth date on his marriage record. He attended college for a couple of years before enlisting in the Army. He married Isabelle Brustein on September 2, 1943. He died less than a year later, before his son was born.

I have also shared what I found out about the Handler family in the 1940 US Census.

Memorial Day is a time to remember those who fought and gave their lives for our country.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Hollanders in Hungary

Holländer relatives in Bonyhád, Hungary

Photographer imprint

Here is another photograph from my husband's late aunt's collection. Family members believe that the woman on the left is Lena (Holländer) Handler's mother, Anna (Honenváld) Holländer. I'm guessing that the woman standing next to Anna might be a daughter, therefore one of Lena's sisters. Could the man on the right be Lena's father, Samuel Hollander (born 1863)?

I'm not sure when this was taken and I am hoping to do more research in the Hungary Civil Registration records to find more information on the Hungarian branch of the family.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Mother and son

Arpad Handler (b. Jan 1910) and his mother Lena (Hollander) Handler

As I recently noted, I am thankful for having received a photograph collection from my husband's recently deceased aunt. This is the oldest photograph in the collection, which I would date to late 1910 or early 1911, based on Uncle Art's birth being in January 1910. (Immigration record lists his name as Arpad.) The photographer imprint is Molnár Lajos, Bonyhád, so I know the photo was taken before Lena immigrated to America. Perhaps this photo was taken to send to Josef, who had immigrated in April 1910, soon after Arpad was born. Lena and Arpad followed Josef to America in May 1911.

Bubbie's Bubbie in the 1940 US Census

My mother-in-law's family was in Woodbine, Cape May County, New Jersey, for decades. I already wrote about finding her and her family in the 1940 Census here. Across the street (Jackson Avenue) was my mother-in-law's grandmother, Goldie Levitt.

Detail from 1940 U.S. Census, Woodbine, Cape May, New Jersey, Roll T627_2324, E. D. 5-48,
page 1B, line 74, household of Goldie Levitt

The 1940 U.S. Census tells me the following about "Bubbie's Bubbie": Goldie owned her home, and it was valued at $2,000. She is the only one listed in her household. The next columns indicate that she is female, white, 62 years old, and widowed. (Her husband died in 1935.) Actually, I believe she was at least 70 or 71 years old based on other records.

"No" in the next column indicates that she did not attend school during the previous year and the following column reports that the highest grade of school completed was 0 (zero). I have noted before that this "highest grade of school completed" for immigrants is quite low and I wonder if it was hard to determine an equivalent of their schooling in the U.S. education system, or perhaps some immigrants truly had very little in the way of formal schooling.

1940 Census ~ Uncle Art is in New Jersey

My father-in-law's oldest brother, Arthur, was not living with the rest of the Handler family in Akron, Ohio in the 1940 US Census. In looking for Uncle Art in the 1940 US Census, I found the use of city directories invaluable, as there are no name indexes for the 1940 US Census yet. I used Ancestry.com's U.S. City Directories 1821-1989 (Beta) and Summit County, Ohio Online Historical Directories. If you don't find your city in ancestry.com or you don't have an ancestry.com subscription, use your favorite search engine to see if a city directory for a certain year has been digitized. You never know what might be available online.

Summit County, Ohio Online Historical Directories
1937 Akron City Directory, p. 778

The 1937 Akron city directory is the last year that I find oldest brother, Arthur A. living at Rhodes Avenue. (He married Josephine in 1934.) They are in apt. 4 and the rest of the family is in apt. 1.

Wordless Wednesday ~ Joseph Handler and his truck

Joseph Handler (1884 - 1947)

The pickup truck in the background is Joseph's. My father-in-law remembers learning how to drive in that truck, which would have been in the late 1930's.

I am deeply indebted to my husband's cousin (on the Handler side) who, upon the death of their aunt Margaret in February, asked that Aunt Margaret's photographs be given to me, as she knows of my interest in sharing family history via this blog. In addition to a number of more recent photographs, this collection includes informal snapshots from when the Handler family was all in Akron, Ohio, in the 1930's and 1940's.

Wordless Wednesday is a daily blogging prompt from Geneabloggers, the genealogy community's resource for blogging. It is used by many genealogy bloggers to help them tell stories of their ancestors.